David wanted to do something nice for God, but God told him not to. David could have gone off and pouted, but he didn’t. Instead, he accepted God’s plans, even though he couldn’t really have understood them. God told David that someone else would do what David proposed doing. Rather than being jealous, though, David was joyful.
That’s humility.
David wasn’t concerned with who got to build it, as long as it got built. That kind of humility only comes from an understanding that the Story isn’t about David. It’s not about David’s family or David’s kingdom. The Story is about God, and David, David’s family and David’s kingdom get to play a role in a much bigger Story with a much bigger plot and an even bigger central Character.
Embedding your story into God’s Story manages to humble you without degrading you.
There’s a tricky balance in there. Some folks seem to think that the whole world revolves around them. They’re easy to spot, and they tend to cause the rest of us a lot of trouble when they don’t get their way.
A lot of Christians respond by saying, “It’s not about you.” Unwittingly, though, these Christians may, in a knee-jerk sort of way, push the pendulum too far toward the other extreme.
I prefer to say, “It’s not all about you … not entirely. You do have a part; it’s just not the leading role.”
That’s a more accurate and biblical perspective.
There’s a Story going on, a Story as big as the cosmos, bigger even. And the wonderful truth is that you’re invited to play a part. The Story is far too big to be rooted in one human being’s story, whether that human being is you or Oprah Winfrey or King David. It’s bigger than Abraham and Moses and Peter and Paul and Mary put together.
All of these people find their true identities only as they discover the role they were meant to play in the ongoing, unfolding epic drama of God. The process of making this discovery is what infuses life with real meaning and real dignity, all the while keeping our egos in check.
King David realised that there was something far bigger than his legacy at stake. The scope of God’s plan and God’s Story is huge, extending to all generations, every nation and tribe and language. Yet David also realized that God honoured him by allowing him to play a very important role.
Your task is to find your role, understanding that only the discovery process can provide you with the proper balance of humility and dignity.
Father, I thank You that Your grace humbles me without degrading me and elevates me without inflating me. You have accorded me great dignity and worth, but without You I am nothing and have nothing. I am grateful that You have given me the holy invitation to participate in something that extends so far beyond me that I can only revel in Your kindness, grace and compassion. I fully acknowledge that You can very well accomplish Your intentions without me, and yet You invite me to participate in what will last forever. I ask for a growing clarity about Your unique purposes for my life, so that I can live into those purposes by Your grace and become the person you created me to be, accomplishing the works you have prepared beforehand for me.
In Jesus’s name, Amen
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